David Jenkins was still committed to
steam but was prepared to wait while pioneers like P&O
and Alfred Holt's Blue Funnel Line established a pattern.
He knew that changes were bound to happen and that his Shire
Line would have to be in the forefront but still he remained
cautious of any drastic changes.
The Eastward Ho was sold in
1870, remaining on charter however, and in 1872 David Jenkins
took the first step in achieving his ambition and acquired
his first steamship, the Flintshire. She was dispatched to
Japan which was then regarded in Far East trading terms as
the 'end of the line', The Japanese market was only just emerging
and largely untapped. For 220 years, up to the signing of
the Treaty of Kanagawa on 31st March, 1853, the Japanese leaders
had had an isolationist policy which closed their ports to
western traders. It was only after American Commodore Matthew
Perry's persuasion and a civil war which restored a slightly
more progressive Meiji dynasty that things changed and the
ports were opened up.
David Jenkins' bold move in
sending his first steamship to Japan put him in the forefront
of trade with the Japanese but he was not the first as P&O
and Alfred Holt were already there. The trade flourished and
in 1873 a slightly larger sister ship, the Montgomeryshire,
entered the same service. However, with the balance sheet
in mind, an opportunity to enhance the company's profits presented
itself when the Flintshire was chartered to the Eastern &
Australian Mail Steam Co. Due to the loss of a ship, the Sunfoo,
and scheduling problems with the replacement , Guthrie's Jeddab,
they required an additional ship to fulfill their service
and the Flintshire ably obliged. While she was absent David
Jones chartered temporary replacements as he always did when
there were short term opportunities opportunities and seasonal
surges in demand.
The Flintshire rejoined the
now eleven strong fleet in 1874 and in the same year David
Jenkins was elected as the Liberal Member of Parliament for
the Cornish Constituency of Falmouth and Penrhyn, a seat which
he was to hold for 12 years.
The Radnorshire, a variation of the Flintshire, joined the
fleet in 1876 and for the next 20 years the size of the ships
varied little with only the width and cargo carrying capacity
increasing. The Montgomeryshire was sold in February 1877
to the Japanese Yubin Kisen Mitsubishi Kaishi who had wrested
the Yokohama-Shanghai mail contract away from P&O. Hitherto,
they had operated 37 coastal vessels and so bought the Montgomeryshire
as the first of their deep sea fleet. With the proceeds of
the sale two similar sized ships were ordered and in 1878
the Breckonshire and the Merionethshire joined the fleet.
With four steamships David Jenkins was able to commence a
regular bi-monthly service out of London to Japan - advertised
as 'Shire Line: The Japan Line of Steamers'. Vessels continued
to be chartered when and where necessary and during 1878 the
W.W. Smith was also sold.
In 1879 the Far East Conference
of China and Japan trading ship owners was formed by John
Swire of the China Navigation Co. David Jenkins, by this time
a prominent member of the House of Commons and a spokesman
on overseas trade matters, was a founder member as was McGregor,
Gow and Co's Glen Line. Glen Line also sailed out of London
and the two companies quickly established an on-going relationship
which enabled the establishment of a regular monthly service.
Despite the sailing ship being
at the peak of its popularity the freight system adopted by
the Far East Conference favoured the steamship. Sailing ship
rates were not controlled nor were their cargo capacities
whereas the Conference offered more stable rates, the pooling
of cargoes and rebates if freight forwarders used Conference
ships, providing they were available. There was no longer
a need for sailing ships and the first to go was the Carnarvonshire.
The steamship Pembrokeshire
joined the fleet in 1882 and, in the same year, the sailing
ships Mary Evans and Cardiganshire were sold. The company
now had two Pembrokeshire's in the fleet but as the Conference
ships were being operated quite separately from the sailing
ships it did not present a problem. The steamships were handled
by Norris & Joyner at the Royal Albert Docks, whereas
the sailing ships were towed to St Catharines or the Surrey
Commercial Docks.
The Glamorganshire was sold in 1884 and in January 1885 the
company had its first casualty when the Carmarthenshire was
lost on the sands off Terschelling. Good fortune had temporarily
deserted the company when, in June of the same year, the Radnorshire
was lost off Malta. In line with the policy to concentrate
on steamships the Webfoot and the Denbighshire were also sold.
The year 1886 saw the adoption
of new technology when the Monmouthshire joined the fleet
with its steel hull and triple expansion engines but fate
was to show an unkind hand when the steamer, Breckonshire
was lost off the Chinese coast. Necessity meant the purchase
of a second-hand replacement, the first ever by David Jenkins,
which was renamed Breckonshire. By now the staff at the head
office had increased to 24 and to accommodate the additional
personnel the company moved to nearby 1 Whittington Avenue.
The last sailing ship, the
Southern Queen, was sold in 1888 as was the Flintshire which
proved to be too small for profitable trading. She was however
replaced by a new Flintshire, a sister of the Monmouthshire.
The company's fleet then comprised nine steamships which allowed
a monthly service to operate; fortnightly when the alternate
Glen Line sailings were taken into consideration.
David Jenkins died in
March 1891 and he was succeeded as Chairman by his son, Noble.
Unfortunately, this coincided with a decline in the Far East
trade and Noble had the task of rationalising and weeding
out the fleets less economical units. On the other hand, the
company's Far East agent, Dodwell, Carhill & Co, introduced
them to the transpacific routes and within twelve months ships
were operating to the west coast of North America. The company
was, in effect, operating a round the world service but did
not advertise as such because the routing was dependent on
the availability of spot cargoes. The weeding out saw the
stop gap Breckonshire being sold in 1893 followed by three
more vessels over the following two years.
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